Bloodline Alchemy: A Young Adult Urban Fantasy Academy Novel (Bloodline Academy Book 6) Lan Chan (uplifting novels .TXT) 📖

around the beast’s jugular. With a single snap of its teeth, the mating-link lion severed the beast’s neck. As frightening as the beast had been, it was brought undone by the link that was meant to be a gift.

Gasping awake, I found myself inside the dim room of the Academy infirmary. “Hey,” Cassie said. “How do you feel?”

She placed a cool cloth against my brow. Without speaking, she dabbed the cloth over my face and against my neck. There were purple bags under her eyes.

“Like death warmed up. But at least I’m alive, I guess. What happened?”

“After you passed out, they took Max to the cells inside the elite guard facility. They’ll keep him there until they deem him safe to release. We haven’t heard word about when that’s going to be.” She paused as though giving me time to digest the information. “They’ve declared Agatha a threat and are authorised to now kill on sight. The fens have been raided again, but you know what they’re like. They’re good at hiding.”

“How is everybody else?”

“Most of them were saved by your circles. The elite guard put them back together as much as possible. They’ll have to take time to heal. Chuck is in the elite guard infirmary too.”

I swallowed and tried to take it all in.

Cassie patted my hand after a while. “I’ll go get Doctor Thorne.”

She returned with the doctor and Jacqueline. While the headmistress made herself comfortable in the armchair at the foot of the bed, Doctor Thorne gave me a once-over. While he was poking and prodding me, the crisp lemon-and-honey scent of Arcana fruit filled my nose. My stomach rumbled.

Cassie picked up the fruit and handed it to me. I took a small bite and felt soothing comfort sliding gently through my insides.

Doctor Thorne sighed. “You’re as good as you can be under the circumstances,” he said. He peeled the covers down slightly. The wound in my side felt sore just being exposed to the air. “Unfortunately, we have no Nephilim healing.” He glanced at Jacqueline who cleared her throat.

“Doctor Thorne has patched you up as best he can using the methods at our disposal,” she said. “But with our limited resources and the healing at the level it’s at, it may take some time for you to fully recover.” She braided her hands together. “There is also the option of sending you to a hospital in the human world.”

“With or without my memories intact?” I asked. This brought a hesitant smile to her lips.

“I don’t think we can do any such thing unless somebody decides to finally do away with Andrei,” she said, guessing at the lengths I had gone through in order to keep thoughts exactly where they were.

“Would it make a difference at this point?” I asked. Even though the Arcana fruit was making me feel a detached glow, I was very aware of the tender wound at my side.

“We’re not sure,” Doctor Thorne said. “We’ve never really shipped our patients off into the human world.”

I chewed on another bite of fruit and thought back to the compound and then dispelled my thoughts. We’d had a doctor amongst the human population, so it was a moot point. And anyway, the supernatural healing had always done the trick.

Jacqueline moved again, this time leaning over to prop herself up with her elbows on her knees. It occurred to me that she was fidgety. It didn’t fit with her persona at all, and it made me think that there was something that made her uncomfortable.

“The thing is,” she said, “even if we wanted to send you to the humans, we’re not sure if it’ll turn Max into a raging killer again.”

Mentioning him had a dark cloud of apprehension curling around me. “He’s only just woken from his induced sleep, but he’s asking for you,” Jacqueline said. “The shifters are waiting outside to take you back to the Reserve.”

“Which shifters?”

“Ari and Harris.”

Not Noah or Charles. I didn’t want to believe it, but I knew it had been a deliberate choice. Through pack, Noah and Charles were a hundred percent loyal to Max. Through friendship, they might hesitate for me. Ari and Harris wouldn’t.

“Are you comfortable going back to the Reserve?” Jacqueline asked. The way she said it, gentle and wispy, had the hairs on my neck standing straight up. It was only then that it struck me what this reminded me of. I’d watched a movie once with Jerome when we’d taken a trip to the human sector surrounding the compound. It was an over-the-top action movie where some ex-marine had turned bodyguard and had just saved a damsel from her violent partner. The way the doctors had spoken to her was exactly the way Jacqueline was speaking to me. Like I was the victim of a crime. Like I was a battered plaything.

The thought made gold bars appear momentarily in my eyes. It set my teeth on edge, making my muscles tighten. I winced as the pain in my side flared.

“Perhaps a few more days’ rest is called for,” Doctor Thorne said.

“No. I’m fine. I’ll go back to the Reserve.”

Jacqueline reached out for my hand. “Are you sure? At least think about staying for a while.”

I shook my head. “It’s fine. I’ll be fine.”

That word rattled around in my head, making everybody glance sidelong at each other, because things were clearly not fine. Cassie elected to go with me under the guise of visiting friends.

Ari and Harris didn’t say a word when Doctor Thorne discharged me and I limped out of the infirmary. “I’d like my access to the MirrorNet back,” I told Jacqueline.

“It’s already done. I don’t think any of the Council can argue that you’re a threat, considering you chose to die rather than use Noah’s essence to save yourself.” Her lips curved into a smile. She touched my cheek, her face growing soft. “I’m so proud of you.”

“For dying?”

She petted my cheek. “For never forgetting who you are despite everything.”

I clenched my fist